iLove
by StarryNightxoxo
Summary: Friend Requests- 'Natsume Hyuuga- Confirm, Not Now'. Mikan Sakura, a rich man's daughter, has few friends. When she receives a friend request from a stranger, she accepts it. Little does she know that the little blue rectangular button would change her life. Mystery, lies, friendship, sarcastic conversations, tears, laughter, love...? What has Mikan gotten herself into? MxN. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **May be cliche or not, but please give it a chance! I've got quite a bit planned for this story, though it won't be as light and fluffy as my other stories. But I'll still try to make it fluffy, because that's my style. 8) -horse dance-

**Disclaimer: **I don't own GA.

* * *

**iLove**

_Chapter 1_

**Summary:** Friend Requests- 'Natsume Hyuuga- Confirm, Not Now'. Mikan Sakura, a rich man's daughter has few friends. When she receives a friend request from a stranger, she accepts it. Little does she know that the little blue rectangle would change her life. Mystery, lies, friendship, sarcastic conversations, love...? What has Mikan gotten herself into?

* * *

"This dress is so tacky," my one and only best friend Hotaru Imai commented, wrinkling her nose as she held the sparkly silver dress an arm's length away from her.

"I think it's the same one Beyonce wore to some premiere," I said uncertainly.

"I don't care if Justin Bieber wore it," Hotaru deadpanned, chucking the dress on my bed. "Sell it, it should fetch a good price."

I should explain; Hotaru was kind of money-faced, even though she was so rich that she could peel off a few notes from her wads of cash to wipe her butt. Not to gross you out or anything, though. I was just proving a point.

"Here, let me." Hotaru reached across for my MacBook Air and went to eBay. She keyed in her username, and I burst out laughing.

"What sorcery is this? ilovemoneyhoney?" I grinned.

"Oh, you have a notification from Facebook," she said, ignoring me and pointing to the Facebook tab. It read "Facebook (1)".

"Oh my God!" I dove for my laptop and clicked on the tab immediately. It was a friend request. A freaking friend request. I rubbed my eyes.

"Am I dreaming?" I said dazedly. It was the first time in my life I'd gotten a friend request. In fact, I had only twelve friends on Facebook. Pathetic, I know. I didn't have many friends. I had been home-schooled since I was born. My father owned some huge company that had branches all over the world and was a millionaire. He wanted to 'keep me out of the spotlight', so not many knew of my existence. Not that I cared though.

"Do you want me to pop some champagne?" Hotaru drawled.

My cursor hovered over the button. Excitement bubbled inside me. Who could it be? _Click. _

**Natsume Hyuuga · Confirm ****· Not Now ****·**

His profile picture was a picture of leaping flames, the glowing mess of red, orange and yellow tongues soaring towards the dark sky. We had no mutual friends.

"Who's that?" Hotaru mused. "Isn't Natsume a kind of tea? Or fruit?"

My first friend request. Does it really matter whether I knew the guy? After all, I could get to know him better... And I wouldn't be stupid enough to give him my private information, of course. I knew all about cyber wellness. And I really needed more friends... Nodding, I clicked on 'confirm'.

My thirteenth Facebook friend.

"Ooh, you're in trouble. Thirteen is an unlucky number." Hotaru raised a dark eyebrow.

I laughed and smacked her with a sheepskin pillow. "I don't believe in superstitions, _ilovemoneyhoney_."

But little did I know that clicking on that little blue rectangular button would change my life— forever.

* * *

After Hotaru had put my flashy, short and low-cut silver dress on show on eBay and went home, I quickly logged onto Facebook and clicked on **Natsume Hyuuga**.

_Worked at _none of your damn business

_Studied at _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

_Lives in _Mars

_From _Mars

I clicked on his photos, but there were none. Hmm, weird. I scrolled down his timeline but there was nothing relevant as well, just random posts from games like MouseHunt and Ninja Saga.

**Mikan Sakura **Hello, thanks for adding me as your friend! :) :) :) Do I know you? :D xoxoxo

To my surprise, he replied to my private message a minute later.

**Natsume Hyuuga **Stop using those smiley faces. They're gross.

I gasped. How dare he? I was only being friendly!

**Mikan Sakura **I WON'T. :) :) :) ;D :D :) : :] :) (: :D :D xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

**Natsume Hyuuga **You will.

**Mikan Sakura **Make me! :P :P :P

**Natsume Hyuuga **You won't want me to make you, little girl.

**Mikan Sakura **D: Who ARE you? Who are you to call me a little girl?!

**Natsume Hyuuga **Your senior.

**Mikan Sakura **Seriously though. Who are you? Why did you add me?

**Natsume Hyuuga **Because I felt like it, duh. You're kind of dumb, aren't you?

**Mikan Sakura **HEY! I'm not dumb!

**Natsume Hyuuga **Really. Someone who likes Rebecca Black shouldn't be too clever, now should they?

**Mikan Sakura **Stalker! :P

**Natsume Hyuuga **Now, now, little girl. Who was the one who liked my Ninja Saga post?

Damn. I must have accidentally clicked 'like' while stalking him.

**Mikan Sakura **Haha. Ninja Saga. Not exactly Mr. Mature, are we?

**Natsume Hyuuga **At least I'm not playing some half-assed game like Pet Society.

**Mikan Sakura **You're an ass. :(

**Natsume Hyuuga **Ah, just when I thought you'd ditched the smileys.

**Mikan Sakura **You're annoying! BYE!

**Natsume Hyuuga **You know you'll just come crawling back, Miss Pathetic. Thirteen friends only?

Huffing, I closed all my tabs and slammed my laptop close. Who the hell did that Natsume Hyuuga think he is? It was kind of interesting talking to him though... Argh! My iPhone pinged. Again? Wow, what was happening today? Was my pathetic social life— or lack thereof— finally going to change for the better?

**Natsume Hyuuga **You can't escape from me, little girl.

Maybe not.

* * *

Lame chapter, I know. I was rushing it. I'm hoping to make the next chapters better. Leave a review if you think I should continue the story. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the sweet reviews! They made my day, whoo! And I updated so soon, isn't it AMAZING? Even I'm shocked at myself! :D Keep the reviews coming, and I'll update quickly. ;) Lame-ish but essential filler chapter ahead!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own GA.

* * *

**iLove**

_Chapter 2_

* * *

I sucked at Science. Like seriously, totally sucked. I had never passed a single Science test in my entire life, and I'm not even exaggerating.

"Mikan, I heard from Mr. Ueda that you scored 2/100 for your most recent Chemistry test?" That was what my father greeted me with when I picked up my phone. Honestly, not 'hi' or 'hello' or 'how are you'.

"I'm really good, thanks," I said sarcastically.

"Mikan." The hint of threat in his voice shut me up.

"Well, I got 3.5/100 for Physics," I said defensively.

"This is it," my father replied after a long silence. "I'm _sick _of your Science grades, do you get it? I'm getting you a new tutor. Now, he's only a few years older than you, but he is extremely good in Science. He topped his whole school for Science. He is also the son of my friend, who wants him to make good use of his time since he has graduated, not just fool around. Do you understand? He's coming in today, instead of Mr. Ueda."

I wanted to retort that I did not have any wish to become a scientist in the future, so why the hell I should be good in Science was a mystery. I mean, who would want crazy, literally smoking green hair and dangerous chemicals exploding in your face? Not me. But I held my tongue. Anyway, I was _glad _to be rid of Mr. Ueda. He was such a pain in the butt.

"Fine, bye." My eyes traveled to my iPhone, whose screen was lit up. I slammed down the phone and picked up my cellphone. It was a notification from Facebook. I rolled my eyes; it didn't take a genius to figure out who it was.

**Natsume Hyuuga** Is my sexiness so distracting that you're avoiding me now?

I couldn't help; a gurgle of laughter escaped my mouth. This guy was such a dork.

**Mikan Sakura **Pfft, aren't you narcissistic? :P

**Natsume Hyuuga **Wow, you actually know such a long word.

My lips curled as I punched in my reply.

**Mikan Sakura **Hey, my language is pretty good, so there! XD

Just then, a loud gong sounded. I winced. My doorbell was pretty conspicuous (there, another big word. Take that, Natsume Hyuuga!)

"Miss Mikan! It's your new tutor, Mr. Andou," my maid called out.

Groaning, I typed in a reply.

**Mikan Sakura **Sorry, gotta go. My Science tutor is here. :(

I made my way to the living room and crossed over to the dining table, where my new tutor had settled down. Various books were strewn on the glass tabletop, as well as assorted stationery. He was sitting with his skinny-jean clad legs propped up on the table, a Doraemon comic book covering his face. I scowled at his slipshod position.

"I'm Mikan," I announced loudly.

He removed the book from his face and sat up straighter, throwing me a grin. Wow, he looked different from what I'd expected. I had imagined a nerdy, geeky lad, maybe tall and lanky and wearing suspenders or something. But this guy was cool— way cool. He was dressed in a tight-ish black T-shirt that accentuated the hard planes of his chest, faded skinny jeans and tattered Converse sneakers. He had messy blue-black hair and eyes that were a few shades lighter than his hair. A black beanie hat was balanced on his head. He was pretty good-looking.

"Oh, Mikan, take a seat. Aren't you tired?" he grinned at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Not really."

"Yeah? 'Cos you've been running in my mind all day!" the flirty guy winked at me.

The ghost of a blush stained my cheeks, but I held my head high and shot him the iciest glare I could manage. "Sorry, but your charm doesn't work on me. Now let's get down to business."

He stuck out his tongue and pulled his legs from the tabletop. Finally. Honestly, how a person like that could be the top in his school, I would never understand.

"Okay, okay. My name's Tsubasa Andou. You can call me Tsubasa. Mr. Andou makes me seem like a million years old." He shuddered slightly.

"Aren't you?" I pretended to be shocked, my eyes opening wide.

"Very funny." He rolled his cerulean eyes. "Anyway, apparently you're so bad at Science that you have to start from the basics, even though you're, what, sixteen?"

I nodded, trying to hide my blush behind a curtain of tawny hair. Did they have to make such a big deal of my awful Science grades?

He chucked me a stack of papers.

"Let's see how _good _you are at Chemistry, Bio and Physics first," he smirked a little. "I'll go through the questions with you later."

Suppressing a groan, I picked up a Uniball 0.38 gel pen and started with Biology. Oh my God. It was a diagram of the cross-section of a leaf and wanted me to label the parts. There were lumps of weird stuff wedged in between the upper part and lower part of the leaf. It reminded me of a sandwich. Mmm... I would die for a lovely ham and cheese sandwich right now...

"Mikan, concentrate." I looked up to see Tsubasa smirking at me, a Pocky stick in his mouth and a Blackberry in his hands. I rolled my eyes and returned my gaze to the paper. Oh, to hell with it.

_a. Bread  
_

_b. Ham  
_

_c. Cheese  
_

_d. Lettuce  
_

_e. Bread_

__"Let me check your progress," Tsubasa said, pulling my paper to him. Shaking my head vigorously, I tugged my paper and hung on for dear life. He finally wrenched it out of my sweaty palms, glaring at me. He glanced down at my paper, and started coughing. He whacked his own chest.

"Sorry, I was so _amazed _that I choked," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. There was a hint of a grin on his lips though. "What the hell did you write? Are you so obsessed with... food?"

My cheeks burned. "I... I don't know the answers."

He shook his head, rolling his eyes and scribbled on the paper with a red pen. He passed it back to me and told me to continue.

_a. Cuticle  
_

_b. Upper epidermis  
_

_c. Palisade mesophyll  
_

_d. Spongy mesophyll  
_

_e. Lower epidermis_

Man, I hate Bio.

* * *

"Seriously, if you don't buck up, I'm going to give you twenty extra pages of homework!" Tsubasa ran a hand through his fringe. "And I'm gonna call your daddy."

"Go ahead." I raised my head and glared at him.

I kind of expected him to look scared and back off, but he grinned instead— a Cheshire cat-like grin. He leaned forward and put his face scarily close to mine. He lifted my chin with his finger and forced me to look at him. He came closer... and closer until I thought he was going to kiss me. My heart thudded like mad in my chest. Oh God... my first kiss was going to be... Suddenly, he plopped back down into his seat, like nothing happened, the grin still on his face.

"So... you gonna do your work, and make sure you do it properly this time round?" he smirked.

"Y-Yes," I gulped.

* * *

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. Sneakily, I stole a glance at Tsubasa. He was engrossed in texting someone. I pulled out my phone and saw Natsume's PM from Facebook.

**Natsume Hyuuga **Heh, you bad in Science?

**Mikan Sakura **Yeah, yeah, are you any good in it?

His reply pinged back in a minute.

**Natsume Hyuuga **Not really. I got only second place for my overall Science grade this year. Pathetic.

I rolled my eyes and stifled another laughter.

**Mikan Sakura **Modest, aren't you? Anyway, I need your help. Pleaaaase? :(

**Natsume Hyuuga **I know. You should present me the Modestest Hottie in the World award already. What will you give me if I do?

**Mikan Sakura **Um, the Modestest Hottie in the World award?

**Natsume Hyuuga** Well... We'll see. Zap a picture of your paper to me.

Hastily, I took a picture of my paper, thanking God I put my phone on silent mode.

"Oh, it's my father calling. Let me take this call," I said in a fake, sweet voice. I lumbered into the kitchen before Tsubasa could say anything.

I posted the picture on Natsume's wall since the mobile app did not have the function of attaching a picture to a private message.

**Natsume Hyuuga **God. You can't do this? How old are you— five?

**Mikan Sakura **Close enough. Now shut up and give me the answers, quick!

**Natsume Hyuuga **Give me your number. It's quicker that way.

Hesitating, I typed my number in. It was okay... right? Natsume seemed an okay person, even though he was kind of narcissistic and irritating at times.

**Unknown **It's me. 1. Chloroplast 2. Cristae 3. Mitochondrion 4. False 5. It will die, as green light is reflected by green plants.

Wow. I hurried back to the table and copied the answers down onto my paper. Blinking innocently, I pushed it towards Tsubasa.

"Help me check?"

His eyes widened. "I knew you could do it! All correct for this page!" He beamed. "Continue!"

**Mikan Sakura **Thanks, you're a genius! :D

**Natsume Hyuuga **I know, I know. No need to remind me.

I sent him another picture of the second page sneakily, and he once again replied with a whole list of answer. Finally, I finished the Bio paper. Smug, I handed it to Tsubasa.

"rER stands for rented emergency room," he read. "Well d— Wait, what the hell?"

"What?" I wrinkled my brow, confused. That was what Natsume said... and wasn't he a genius at Science?

"The answer's rough endoplasmic reticulum!" Tsubasa exclaimed, flicking through my pages. "Calvin cycle- a cycle in which Calvin transforms from an egg to a human?"

He looked at me as though I'd just ripped off my clothes and hair and started dancing Gangnam Style in the middle of the road.

"Thirty pages of homework," he said sternly, his blue eyes crackling.

"Yes..." I whispered.

That Natsume Hyuuga... He was so going down. DOWN. Like baby-are-you-down-down-down-down-down DOWN.

* * *

I'm sorry for the filler chapter... :( But I assure you, it's essential because it introduces a character who is important-ish. Next chapter will be more exciting! (hopefully- I haven't planned it out yet) Oops! Review, pretty please? :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews, you awesome peeps!:) So, I saw this thing on Facebook which says to add 'in Harry's pants' to whatever song you're listening to now. Mine's Good Time in Harry's Pants. LOL, that sounds sick. Random... Haha. :)

**Disclaimer: **Sigh. I don't own GA.

* * *

**iLove**  
_Chapter 3_

* * *

**Mikan Sakura **Asshole.

Yes, I know I'm pathetic, but honestly, I didn't know how to get back at that little sod named Natsume Hyuuga. Why? Because he's such a mysterious little pig.

**Natsume Hyuuga **What, no 'hello'? You break my heart, ugly girl.

His reply came 7 minutes later.

I scowled and glanced at my profile picture— a not-too-unflattering picture of me decked out in winter wear and posing beside a life-size Santa Claus figure outside a shop. I forced myself to wait for another 4 minutes before replying— I didn't want to seem too eager.

**Mikan Sakura **I'm not ugly, you're the ugly one! :(

**Natsume Hyuuga **Whatever helps you sleep at night, little girl. You know good and well that I'm a sexy beast. Roar.

I smirked.

**Mikan Sakura **Wow, did you just ROAR? XD And I don't know that you're a "sexy beast". You may have wiggly blacked out teeth, a head of thinning white hair and skin as wrinkled as a natsume fruit for all I know. Fits, doesn't it? ;)

**Natsume Hyuuga **Excuse me, but my gorgeous appearance is a million miles from your pathetic description. ;)

I stared at the screen and rubbed my eyes for good measure, but the emoticon was still there, winking at me.

**Mikan Sakura **Holy guacamole... did you just WINK?

**Natsume Hyuuga **No, I'm a pirate 'cos I have only one eye. A sexy pirate at that.

**Mikan Sakura **Show me a picture of you then, to prove that you're as sexy as you claim. :)

**Natsume Hyuuga **Sorry, I have to go.

_Natsume Hyuuga has logged off. _

I stared at the laptop like the idiot that I was. What the heck was that? Maybe he really was some ugly troll? Not that I was trying to be judgmental and... age-ist, but I honestly couldn't picture myself talking to some dried up old man. Oh, my Lord. Save me. But I couldn't deny it— talking to him was kind of fun.

* * *

"You are such a snail." Hotaru shook her head wistfully as she let her eyes roam over me. "Waiting for some online million-year-old guy? How pathetic. You should come out and blackmail people with me more often."

She had just come over after receiving a text from me saying 'I'm bored', three hours after Natsume disappeared off the Face(book) of the world. Okay, ignore my failed pun there.

I sent her a withering look. "Oh, right, I should venture out and risk getting my identity exposed and being hauled off to the nearest police centre. Why didn't I think of that? What are you, crazy?"

My phone vibrated in my pocket suddenly. I whipped it out absent-mindedly, still looking at my stoic best friend who was painting her nails Midnight Ebony.

"What?" I snapped crankily into my phone.

"Is this how you're gonna greet me every time, ugly girl?" a deep, husky and unbelievably sexy voice drawled.

_Crash. _My poor iPhone slipped from my suddenly clammy fingers and landed face-down on my carpeted floor.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost," Hotaru commented.

Still frozen, I reached down and gingerly picked up my phone. "Err... hello?" Oh, just great. My voice sounded like a cat being strangled. "H-How did you get my number?"

"S-Santa Claus threw your number down my chimney, retard," he sounded amused.

"Oh, yeah. I gave you my number for that Bio thing..." I trailed off, ignoring the jibe.

"How's your Bio coming along anyway? Need any help?" I could definitely hear a smirk in his sexy, husky voice. I shivered slightly, though it _might _be because it was winter and about ten degrees out there.

"I'd rather eat raw blowfish than receive your help, Mr. I'm-a-sexy-beast-who-refuses-to-show-his-stupid-face."

"Look, can't you just drop it?" Natsume sighed, exasperated. "We hardly know each other."

"I... I guess we don't. Why'd you call me then?"

"I don't know. Let's just pretend I didn't call you. Goodbye, Mikan," his voice suddenly sounded cold and harsh.

"Wait!" I let out in a rush, even though my body just kind of shuddered when he said my voice. It sounded so... sexy. And different. "I really want to get to know you. I'll be at Alice Park at 5.30pm tomorrow. I won't leave until you show up."

There was a pause. "So? I won't be there. Goodbye."

The line went dead.

"Mikan, the girl who has tissue paper stuffed in her skull instead of brains." Hotaru deadpanned, recapping the bottle of black nail polish.

Instead that she did not use the words 'tissue paper'. I'm just too polite to repeat it. Let's just say it starts with the letter S and contains four letters.

Okay, what exactly did I just do? Let's get it straight. I just threw myself at a stranger (even though I did not know for sure whether he would turn up) who might be some escaped convict or whatever— I didn't exactly know him— who happened to have an extremely sexy voice. Who was also extremely bipolar and mysterious.

Someone pass me a shovel. I should just dig a hole in the ground and lay down it it now.

* * *

Rushed and short chapter, I'm going out to a book fair and food festival soon. I will most probably be able to update within these few days; it will be longer than this (promise). As usual, review please! :) Do tell me if you think this story is progressing too fast; I don't want it to be too fast nor too slow. Love ya! xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Thank you for reading, reviewing (if applicable) and everything else, and also sorry if the chapter doesn't live up to your expectations. But I'd like you to know that the drama comes _later, _in the future chapters. :)

Oh, and I've made some changes to chapter 3. I decided I wanted the season to be winter, haha. You may want to read the last part of chapter 3, if you like.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own GA.

* * *

**iLove**

_Chapter 4_

* * *

I had no idea what to wear today, for the meeting (hopefully) with Natsume at the park. Even though I had a walk-in closet the size of a small bedroom, stuffed with clothes that could last me for my whole lifetime, practically.

"Wear this." Hotaru pulled out a black tank top with spaghetti straps, a plunging neckline and was cut in such a way that it exposed my midriff. Not to mention that it was extremely tight. Was I _high _when I bought that thing?

"Are you nuts? He'll think I'm a skank," I retorted, throwing the skimpy tank top aside. It landed on a pile of hats.

"It'll capture his attention right away, and he'll definitely stay," my crazy best friend insisted.

"Oh, right. Of course. He'll definitely stay because he can see my stupid runway chest and bony stomach. Oh yeah." I gestured to my chest, or lack thereof.

"Humanity has invented push-up bras, Mikan," Hotaru said, wandering over to the chest of drawers where my underwear was kept. She rifled through the piles of lace, satin, silk and cotton and finally came up with a deep purple bra lined with lace. "Put it on. It will give you some chest."

"Oh, hell," I surrendered, exasperated. I could never win a fight against Hotaru. I had learned this the hard way when we had "friendly" little boxing matches when we were young. I always ended up flying over the fence and getting a bump that was almost as big as Russia (yes, I do know my Geography) on my forehead.

Two-and-a-half hours later, I finally had an outfit put together. A _decent _outfit. I was wearing my push-up bra, courtesy of Hotaru, a light grey, long-sleeved shirt tucked into denim high-waisted shorts and tights. My face was also made-up by Hotaru, and my hair styled. I smiled as I looked into my full-length mirror, twirling around. My hair was perfectly straightened, and flowed down to my back in a sleek brown curtain. I thought I looked okay. Pretty, even.

"Here," Hotaru said, looping a long necklace with a pendant in the shape of sunglasses over my neck.

She consulted the tiny gold Rolex on her wrist and grabbed her Miu Miu bag.

"I have to go. Call me." She strode towards my bedroom door and let herself out. That was one thing I liked about Hotaru— when she said she had to go, she didn't elaborate a whole lot. I used to have a friend who would be like, "Oh, dear, I have to go! I've got this appointment at the mall with my personal shopper Emily who's just so cute at, like, 12pm. She's totally great, and she's really pretty and stylish too, so I totally trust her. Once, she told me to buy this totally cute pink dress with the satin flowers, you know? And when I went to the party, everyone was like, oh em gee, this dress is so cute! Where did you get it? And I was like ho-hum, Emily recommended it..." And then she would end up being late for her appointment. _Every single darn time. _

Anyway. You get the gist. I remembered that I was so thankful she moved away to Perth that I had sent a fancy, fluffy card to her new address to say goodbye. You know, just as a closure kind of thing. I glanced at the clock on the wall. 5.22pm. I sucked in a breath, brushed a lint off my shirt and proceeded to drag a black shoe box out of my walk-in closet. I slipped on the ankle boots; they were just a teeny bit tight, but I thought I could live with it. I glanced out of the window and saw that the ground was swathed in a pristine white blanket, and snow was still falling quite steadily. I grabbed a white furry hat on second thoughts. It _was _December, after all.

I clambered down the spiral marble staircase and made my way out of my house. I knew no one was at home. For once, I appreciated the fact that my Dad was never at home. I removed my coat, which was trimmed with faux fur, from the rack on the way out. The cold winter air whipped at my hair and my face, making me shiver slightly. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't made transport arrangements. There was no way I was going to call my chauffeur; I'll bet a box of Krispy Creme donuts that he would tell my father, who didn't like me going out. And I was only 16, so I didn't and couldn't drive in Japan. Dang it.

I thought about taking the subway, but I had never done so in my entire sixteen years on Earth, so I would probably get lost before I could even shout the 'tally-ho!'. Not that I knew what it means, but whatever. I hopped around in frustration, and also to keep myself from becoming a frozen block of ice. Finally, I took my iPhone out of my pocket, my fingers trembling slightly from the cold and found the number for a cab company. I ordered a taxi, and then hurried back into the house to seek refuge from the chill. I glanced at my watch anxiously. Rats! It was already 5.33pm!

After what seemed like an eternity, the yellow taxi arrived. I quickly slipped inside and instructed the driver, "Alice Park, please."

Would Natsume go home because I was late? Would he be cross? Oh God...

Finally, the taxi pulled up at the side of the road. I handed the driver a few bills and stepped out of the cab quickly. I scanned the park— not many people where there. A middle-aged mother with a crying toddler was making their way to the bus-stop, with the mom going, "Honey, it's cold. It's going to rain soon. We'll go home and watch _Barney, _all right? We'll come back tomorrow and go on the swings."

I pulled my coat tighter around myself and pulled my hat lower. It _was _getting a bit more chilly out here, and it was definitely going to rain. Oh, hell, I didn't even bring an umbrella. Numbly, I texted Natsume.

**Mikan Sakura **Where are you?

I ambled around the park, cursing myself for wearing boots with heels. The path was pretty slippery with snow. I walked over to the bench carefully, but still managing to twist my ankle a little on the way. Great. Just bloody... great. Pain shot through my ankle and I sank onto the bench. _Bzzz, _my phone vibrated seven minutes later.

**Natsume Hyuuga **At home, duh. Why, stalker?

My eyes pricked with tears. I didn't know why. It might be because of the throbbing pain in my right foot, or because he totally forgot about our meeting.

**Mikan Sakura **I thought we arranged to meet at Alice Park today at 5.30pm. I'm here already.

Wow... I must sound totally desperate.

**Natsume Hyuuga **I told you I'm not going. What makes you so sure I even live in Tokyo? Maybe I live somewhere else and am hours away from Alice Park. What makes you think I'll spend hours on the road, or even in a plane, just to meet some girl whom I don't even know? You're just someone I met on the Net.

Huh, that put me in my place, didn't it?

**Mikan Sakura **I told you I'll wait until you show up.

**Natsume Hyuuga **You're stubborn. It's useless; I won't show up.

**Mikan Sakura **I don't care. You will. Stubborn is my middle name.

**Natsume Hyuuga **Whatever, suit yourself.

I stuffed my phone back in my pocket defiantly. I would wait. I would definitely wait, even if it killed me. I just wish I'd brought a couple of tiny little things with me. My earmuffs, for example. And the mask with the cute chipmunk mouth printed on it because my nose was turning as red as Rudolph's. And my mittens. And my long-johns, just so I could pop into the public toilet and wriggle into it. And my thick, footballer socks. And my hot water bottle. And maybe a long, warm, woolen scarf I could wrap around my neck... Ah, bliss. Okay, I admit. I wished I could bring my whole room along.

_Plop. _A drop of rain landed on my coat-covered arm. It slid down, like a little kid playing on a slide. _Plop, plop, plop. _The rain was getting steadily heavier. My fluffy hat was damp, and no longer fluffy. It looked more like a drowned rat. I willed myself to _stare _at the bare trees dusted with white snow and ignore the rain. Easier said than done. It was raining cats and dogs now, the icy fingers of water pelting me hard. My teeth chattered in my mouth and I drew my coat tighter around my body. My foot throbbed harder than ever, making the situation worse. Damn it. What if I was waiting for nothing? What if, like Natsume said, he lived miles away from here and would never come? But it would make me seem like a wimp, a sad little sod who made empty threats and promises if he did show up and saw that I wasn't here.

_Boom! _A clap of thunder boomed, jolting me out of my reverie. A flash of bright white lightning zigzagged across the dark grey, almost black sky and another clap of thunder sounded.

_Dear God, please forgive me for my sins, _I thought. _I confess that I did steal that packet of Famous Amos cookies belonging to Hotaru from her cabinet and then lie that a cat got it. I confess that I broke my father's favorite vase last year and pretend that the wind knocked it over. I promise that if I get out of this storm alive, I will buy Hotaru ten boxes of Famous Amos cookies and order a new vase from the internet. I promise that I'll try to pass my next Science test, though it is almost as impossible as me being sucked into a UFO and being kidnapped to Mars. So please, God, help me survive this... Even though I know I'm being so stupid and stubborn... _

I must have been clenching my fists and praying and confessing sins in my head for at least thirty minutes. By then, I was drenched. My perfectly straightened hair was a wild frizz now, the odd damp curl sticking to my head and face. I wanted to wrench off my too-tight boot to relieve my swollen ankle, but if I did that, my foot would freeze, and possibly drop off. And I'd much rather have a swollen, hurts-like-a-badass ankle than no ankle at all.

_I will donate a hundred dollars to charity. I will stop bothering Natsume... even though I think I like him. He's so sarcastic and awful and such a jerk but I can't help but like him. I don't know, it's like this stupid magnetic force drawing me to him. I want to know him better... and I want him to know me. I want a new friend, and I want that friend to be him. But I don't think he cares about me at all because otherwise why would he brush me off? And he's right... I'm just some girl he doesn't even know... I'm not even special to him. But he is special to me. Oh, God, this is so confusing... I really, really like him. I really—_

__"Oi," a familiar, deep voice said, interrupting my confession.

My heart pounded against my ribs. I forced myself to look up and turned my stiff neck around.

Red. I saw red.

He was making his way to me, his bright crimson eyes unreadable. And he was gorgeous. Oh, yes. Incredibly gorgeous and hot. Smoking hot. So hot that I forgot all about my chattering teeth, my damp, rats' tails hair, my swollen ankle and my numb face and nose.

His messy black bangs fell across his eyes, partially covering his eyes and giving him that sexy, mysterious, badass look. Oh, boy, he was a mega hottie all right, as he had said. He was holding a black umbrella in his big, tanned hand, and my eyes trailed to his arm. Mmm, his arms looked lean but muscular. Subconsciously, I looked at his chest. It was covered by a grey sweater and his black coat was unbuttoned. I could make out the planes of his hard abs under that shirt. I swallowed hard.

"Um..." I said stupidly. My voice had suddenly abandoned me while I was facing an impossibly hot guy. What was I, The Little Mermaid?

"You're late for forty-five minutes," I finally managed to choke out, my voice sounding unnaturally high and squeaky.

He looked at me, his eyes still unreadable, but so deep, so full of emotion. For that moment, it was just him and me. The rest of the world seemed to fade away. The howling wind, the icy rain splattering me, the thunder, the scary lightning. They all faded away.

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I didn't proof-read. Review if you like. :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Thank you for all your wonderful reviews, they made me so bloody happy. *sniffs* My mom's obsessed with the alleged doomsday on 21 Dec and it's kind of rubbing off me. OTL.

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**iLove**

_Chapter 5_

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_BOOM! _Lightning tore across the sky and the thunder that followed made me jump an inch off the ground. Okay, so the rest of the world was catching up with us again. My purple/red ankle was not making things better.

His eyes crinkled at the corners, which was apparently his version of a smile. "No shit, Sherlock."

"Um..." I trailed off awkwardly, uncertain of what to say. I wished I could whip out my phone at that moment and Google "how the hell do you talk to a hot guy without sounding like a half-assed bimbo?"

"What do you want?" Natsume crossed one arm over his chest, the one that was not holding the umbrella. I suddenly wished he wasn't wearing all those layers of clothes just so I could catch a glimpse of his biceps...

"Err..." _Boom! _"It's kind of... wet here. Um, want to head to my place to, er, talk instead?"

"Thought you'd never ask," he drawled.

I followed him to a sleek black motorcycle parked by the side of the road, flinching when another bolt of pain shot through my ankle. I distracted myself from it by staring at Natsume's sexy back, the ripple of muscles in his shoulders as he closed his umbrella and dumped it in the little storage compartment. He tossed a black helmet at me and pulled one over his tousled hair.

I was struggling to buckle the strap when he leaned over and helped me with it. I tried not to notice that he was so close that I could feel his breath on my neck, and that he smelled really nice— aftershave, shampoo and a musky scent.

"There, all done," he said, releasing the strap and stepping away, his eyes twinkling, as though he knew what I was thinking.

He hauled himself onto the motorcycle easily, and I followed suit, although not as effortlessly as he had made it seem. Soon, the motorcycle rumbled and came to life. Thrill and anticipation shot through me. I had never been on a motorcycle prior to that. Never. It had always been limousines, posh cars and, at the very least, taxis. As we zoomed along on the road, leaving a trail of smoke behind us, I yelped.

"Hold on tight," Natsume raised his voice over the roar of the bike. The bike jerked and I quickly wrapped my arms tightly around his hard torso.

"This is amazing!" I shouted as the wind whipped at my hair. The exhilaration— it was something I had never experienced before. I felt free, like a canary being released from its cage and finally being able to soar into the bright blue sky, the future, freedom. As Natsume took a sharp turn, my face slammed into his back and my arms instinctively curled tighter around his stomach.

"Woohoo! This is awesome!" I didn't know what came over me. It was as though Natsume had tore away my mask. I could stop pretending, stop hiding. Like I was a _normal _teenager. A teenager who was able to have fun, have tons of friends, let loose and relax. I wanted this moment to last forever.

When we pulled up at my house, I felt disappointment tug at my heart. We slipped off the bike and I handed my helmet to Natsume. His hair was _even _more messy and ruffled, thanks to the helmet, but he still managed to look as though he had just stepped out of the silver screen.

"Nice house," Natsume commented.

"T-Thanks," I mumbled. It hadn't occured to me how he had known my address. I was pretty sure I didn't tell him that. I peered curiously at him.

"How did you know where I live?" I inquired, cocking my head.

He looked a little startled, as though he wasn't expecting my question. A tiny frown appeared on his flawless face. He managed to turn it into an easy, heart-stopping half-smile.

"You told me," he said lightly.

"When?" I frowned.

"Before we got on the bike, remember?" he said casually, doubt no longer clouding his eyes.

"If you say so," I conceded. It didn't even matter, for God's sake. I must have told him, and forgotten about it. Yes, it must have been the exhilarating ride clouding my head. Who even _cared _how he knew where I lived?

"A-choo!" I sneezed, and mucus started dripping out of my nose. Damn, I was catching a cold from the rain.

"Easy there. Let's go in," Natsume suggested, a hint of anticipation creeping into his voice.

I suddenly let out a little scream as a though popped into my head. My father had said never to let anyone except Hotaru, the lady who cleaned the house for us every other day and his business partners and friends into our house. He had even made me sign an agreement. Jesus.

"Oh, wait. About that." I fiddled with the hem of my coat. "I'm not supposed to let anyone in there. My father is worried about me."

"Oh." He nodded, looking surprising _not _surprised. "It's okay. I'm a stranger, after all."

"No, not a stranger," I hastily amended. "You're a friend to me."

"Hmm, I see." I didn't know what I was expecting. I guess perhaps I was hoping he would say something like, 'Oh, you're my friend too!'

"Um, well... Maybe we could just sit around and talk for a bit?" I pointed to the outdoor rattan table with a huge open umbrella plopped in the middle.

He seemed to consider this for a while. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

I hobbled towards the table and the matching chairs surrounding it, wincing at my stupid swollen ankle. At times like this, I would lament, 'Why the hell is my freaking garden so big? What do I do— eat grass every day? Maybe then I'd like a garden this big.' In the middle of my mental cursing, I accidentally slammed my right foot into a ceramic pot filled with soil, overflowing with lush green leaves and purple flowers. I couldn't help the loud groan that escaped my mouth. I sank down on the soft grass in pain, clutching my leg.

"You okay?" Natsume was by my side in five seconds flat, his face a mask of concern.

"Y-Yeah. Nothing wrong," I forced a smile, but the traitorous tears that leaked out of my eyes contradicted my words. Damn.

Natsume shot me a dirty look and pressed on my leg, which was clad in my sopping wet tights. "What is it?" he demanded.

"M-My ankle." I pointed at my right foot.

He removed my shoe gently and ta-dah, my ankle which was decorated with purple bruises was on show. He touched a finger to it gently and I flinched.

"It should be twisted," he said in a severe voice. "Come on, I'll bring you to the hospital."

"Hospital?" I yelped. "No!"

"You must get it checked, you stupid girl!" Natsume shot an Arctic glare at me. "I don't give a shit, I'll drag you to the hospital if I must."

"My Dad doesn't let me go out unnecessarily. I always sneak out if I need to go out," I mumbled.

"This is fucking necessary! And what's your Dad, the fucking Nazi?" Natsume retorted, after a three-second pause. I wondered what that pause was all about. Maybe he was letting the fact that my father didn't let me go out, like I was a criminal or something, sink in.

"Don't swear, damn you!"

"I will fucking swear whenever I want to," he grumbled.

"You owe me 100 yen whenever you swear," I scowled bitterly at him, trying to ignore the searing pain.

"Fuck you," the raven-haired hottie swore.

"100 yen!"

"Whatever! Just go to the fu—" he stopped when he noticed my killer stare. "—fudging hospital." He finished lamely, giving me a pointed look. I grinned smugly in return, despite the stupid tears on my face.

"Can you even stand?" Natsume grimaced.

I tried to haul myself to my feet, but all I succeeded in doing was to put more pressure on my foot and make more tears spill out of my eyes.

Grumbling under his breath, Natsume slid his arms under my body and hauled me up easily like I was a sack of potatoes. I was enjoying the sensation of his muscular forearms tucked in snugly just beneath my butt and my back so much that I forgot all about my purple ankle for a moment. Gosh, wasn't this just _romantic? _A super gorgeous guy carrying me bridal-style because I hurt my foot, rushing me to the hospital? It was just like in sappy Korean dramas that I spent hours watching online, stuffing myself with endless Kit-Kats and cans of diet Cokes when I should in fact be doing my homework.

"God dammit, you're heavy," Natsume muttered as he made his way to his motorcycle, making a show of staggering beneath my weight.

Oh, yeah. Talk about shattering illusions.

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An hour and a half later, I was seated on a blue plastic chair at the nearby hospital. By then, the rain had stopped, but it was still freezing outside. Honestly, I would never have thought that Natsume was such a mother hen. I could have easily taken care of my ankle using the first-aid kit which was collecting dust in the antique cabinet in the living room.

"Miss Mikan Sakura?" the petite, pretty nurse at the counter called.

I limped to the polished wooden counter with my crutches tucked under my armpits, my ankle swathed in white bandage. I couldn't possibly wear my boots now. In fact, when I meekly suggested wearing it only until I get home (For God's sake, I didn't want to trek around barefooted like a tramp, regardless of whether my foot was covered in white shit), both Natsume the mother-hen and the doctor had stared at me as though I had just admitted that I was in fact a transvestite/drag-queen, and was suggesting that I should take off my pants and show them my (non-existent) dick.

Therefore, Natsume had very kindly agreed to run down the street and buy some sandals and socks, but not before grumbling and cursing like a sailor. So far, he owed me 800 yen for swearing.

"Here are some painkillers if the pain gets too unbearable." The small gold badge on the nurse's blue shirt read 'Nonoko Ogasawara'. She pushed a small zip-lock bag with little white pills in it. "Take it whenever is necessary. Here's your medication. You have to take it three times per day, after meals. Take two p—"

"Oi, heavy-ass, your sandals." I heard Natsume's Converse slap on the marble floor as he jogged towards me. I took the opportunity to enjoy the view of his long, muscular but lean legs. Mm, God bless whoever invented tight jeans. I was enjoying the "scenery" so much so that I didn't even mind him calling me a heavy-ass.

"Sir, please maintain silence in the hospit—" Nonoko began to say, but Natsume placed the sandals on the counter and raked a hand through his dark, damp hair, pushing it away from his gorgeous face.

"You were saying?" A corner of his lips curved up by about a millimeter, emitting that cocky aura all over again.

"Er... Um... Nothing..." Nonoko giggled, her cheeks pink. She twirled a sliver of dark blue hair around her index finger. I screwed up my nose in disgust. Just as I'd suspected, Natsume Hyuuga was a flirt. But of course, most guys who were even _half _as good-looking as him always flirted with giggly, gorgeous women who blushed and flirted right back. I sure as heck didn't have a flirty bone in my body.

I grabbed the plastic bag filled with my medication and the pair of ugly brown sandals off the counter, scowling, and ambled over to the seat and sinking into it grudgingly. I let the crutches rest across my lap and watched as Natsume flirted with the nurse. It was weird how he could flirt without smiling, like _really _smiling. The only thing he did which was close to a smile was curving a corner of his lips. That was it. What was his problem, really? Why couldn't he truly smile, just for once? I watched with disdain as Nonoko covered her mouth and giggled, and then scribble something on a piece of paper. She raised the paper to her lips and kissed it before passing it to Natsume with a flirty little wink. Ugh. Somehow, watching their PDA made me want to chuck my crutches at their heads, one at Natsume and one at the nurse. Which was weird. Why did I even care if Nonoko looked like she wanted to tear off her clothes, rub herself all over him and snog Natsume's face off?

"Let's go." Natsume strode towards me, waving the piece of paper with Nonoko's number, lipstick print as well as _'call me maybe? ;)' _written in an extremely girly handwriting, what with the unnecessary curves and little hearts.

"Looks like you had a lot of fun," I said as we walked across the parking lot, trying to sound casual, as though I didn't give a rat's poop whether or not he messed around with the nurse.

"Guess so. She's pretty sexy, what with the nurse uniform and all," Natsume said lewdly, wiggling his eyebrows, his red eyes shining with humor.

"Pervert," I chuckled and raised one crutch, giving his leg a playful, light swot while scanning the parking lot for his shiny black motorbike.

"Fuck, you smashed my nut!" Natsume ground out, crossing his arms across his waist and bending over. I would bet my precious heart-shaped plush toy that I had since I was a toddler that he would have cupped himself if he weren't in a public place with so many people around.

His choice of words was so funny that I almost burst out laughing, but I turned it into a cough at the last minute. "Oh God, I'm so sorry. About your... smashed nut." Another burst of laughter threatened to leak out of my mouth, and I pursed my lips tightly, trying to keep a straight face on.

A minute later, Natsume stood up, still wincing slightly. He gave me a dirty look. "Oh, I'm glad I amused you."

"Well, it serves you right for teasing me. Heavy-ass, huh, Mr. Oh-You-Smashed-My-Ball?" I taunted right back, though I still felt a twinge of guilt eating at my heart. I had heard that getting hit in the balls was like being struck by lightning or something.

"Well, well, well. Since you're such a _smart-ass, _I guess you can get home fine. Goodbye," Natsume smirked and raised a hand in farewell.

He strode away towards his bike, leaving me standing in the middle of the parking lot with my damp hair and clothes, freezing in the cold. I figured he would come back. He wouldn't be so mean, surely? After all, I _knew _he had a kind and soft heart beneath that aloof, touch-me-and-you'll-die, muscular exterior. He wouldn't just leave me in the nine degrees Celsius outdoors, with a twisted ankle and wet clothes, would he? _Would he? _

I got my answer when a loud, familiar _vroom _interrupted my train of thoughts, and a familiar black bike zoomed by, spurting out a cloud of smoke. And on it sat a fashion-mag-cover worthy male, giving me the finger.

"Aaah!" I screamed in frustration, and spewed all the foul words that I knew inside my head.

I knew, somehow, that my encounter with Natsume Hyuuga was not over yet. But first, I had to figure out how to get home with only sixty yen in my wallet.

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Not proof-read. Review if you like. :)


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